Today I wanted to visualize some great data from Kent Lee Platte’s Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) for edge rushers (EDGE). Here is a link to Platte’s website in case you haven’t seen his work.
To qualify for a RAS score, a player must have a total of six recorded metrics from any of the following: Height, Weight, Forty-yard dash, Twenty-yard split, Ten-yard split, Bench Press, Vertical Jump, Broad Jump, Short Shuttle, and 3-Cone. The player is then graded on each in comparison to the positional database since 1987 to get more of a feel of their size, speed, explosion, agility, and total value, giving context to the raw numbers.
The goal of the series is to provide the RAS from Platte, and visualize it to get a simultaneous view of all the players at their position that participated at the combine. Here are the players that qualified for a RAS (NOTE: Positions are grouped from the scouting combine results tracker compiled by Dave Bryan and Alex Kozora):
We see several athletic options at the position, including nine players with a RAS above nine, the same number in my 2023 EDGE RAS article.
First up this year is Myles Cole of Texas Tech (9.93 RAS). He has elite size, with great speed and explosion, but no agility testing. Excellent 36 7/8” arms. 9 7/8” hands.
Penn State’s Chop Robinson (9.71 RAS) has elite speed, great explosion, but poor size and didn’t qualify in agility (4.25 shuttle, no three cone). 32 1/2” arms and 9 1/8” hands.
Jared Verse of Florida State (9.57 RAS) has elite speed and explosion, good agility, and okay size. Nice 33 1/2” arms. 9 7/8” hands.
Western Michigan’s Marshawn Kneeland (9.55 RAS) has elite agility, great explosion, good speed, and okay size. Great 34 1/2” arms. 9 1/8” hands.
Laiatu Latu of UCLA (9.34 RAS) has elite speed, great agility, with good size and explosion. 32 5/8” arms and 9 5/8” hands.
UCLA’s Gabriel Murphy (9.24 RAS) has elite speed and explosion, great agility, but very poor size. 30 1/2” arms and 9 1/4” hands.
Cedric Johnson of Ole Miss (9.24 RAS) has elite speed and explosion, good agility, and okay size. 33 1/2” arms and 9 7/8” hands.
Notre Dame’s Javontae Jean-Baptiste (9.19 RAS) has great speed and explosion, with okay size, but no agility testing. Great 33 3/4” arms and 10” hands.
Jalyx Hunt of Houston Christian (9.19 RAS) has elite speed and explosion, with okay size, but no agility testing. Nice 34 3/8” arms and 10” hands.
Seven players have a RAS in the eight tier. Adisa Isaac of Penn State (8.96 RAS) has great speed, explosion, and agility, with okay size. 33 7/8” arms. 9 5/8” hands.
Alabama’s Dallas Turner (8.82 RAS) has elite speed and explosion, but poor size and no agility testing. Nice 34 3/8” arms. 9 7/8” hands.
Chris Braswell (8.68 RAS), also of Alabama, has elite speed, good explosion, but poor size and no agility testing. 33 1/4” arms and 9 3/8” hands.
Michigan’s Jaylen Harrell (8.43 RAS) has great explosion, good speed, okay size, but didn’t qualify in agility (4.39 shuttle, no three cone). 33 1/4” arms and 9 3/4” hands.
Brennan Jackson of Washington State (8.38 RAS) has great speed, with good size, explosion, and agility. 32 3/4” arms and 9 3/4” hands.
UConn’s Eric Watts (8.28 RAS) has great size, speed, and explosion, but very poor agility. Outstanding 35 3/4” arms. 9 3/4” hands.
Xavier Thomas of Clemson (8.13 RAS) has elite speed, good explosion, but very poor size and no agility testing. 32 7/8” arms and 9 1/8” hands.
In the seven range, there are six players. Colorado State’s Mohamed Kamara (7.94 RAS) has elite speed, great explosion, okay agility, but very poor size. 32 3/8” arms, but smaller 8 5/8” hands.
Darius Robinson of Missouri (7.75 RAS) has elite explosion, great speed, good size, but poor agility, viewed as a defensive lineman in Steelers lenses. Nice 34 1/2” arms and 10 5/8” hands.
Arkansas’ Trajan Jeffcoat (7.56 RAS) has good size, speed, and explosion, with okay agility. 32 3/4” arms and 10 1/8” hands.
Bralen Trice of Washington (7.42 RAS) has great speed and agility, okay explosion, but poor size. 32 1/2” arms and 9” hands.
Michigan’s Braiden McGregor (7.36 RAS) has good size, speed, and explosion, but didn’t qualify in agility (4.63 shuttle, no three cone). 33 1/8” arms and 10” hands.
Javon Solomon of Troy (7.23 RAS) has great explosion, with good speed and agility, but very poor size. Great 33 7/8” arms and 10 3/4” hands.
One player in the sixes, Austin Booker of Kansas (6.97 RAS). He has good speed and explosion, with okay size and agility. 33 7/8” arms and 9 1/4” hands.
The lone player in the five tier is Kansas State’s Khalid Duke (5.91 RAS). He has good speed and explosion, but poor size and no agility testing. 32 5/8” arms and 9 1/4” hands.
Ginormous drop off to the final player, Solomon Byrd of USC, with a 1.5 RAS. He has okay explosion, but poor size and agility, and very poor speed. 33 5/8” arms and 9 3/4” hands.
There are more prominent needs for Pittsburgh, and I can’t wait to see if they select the position in the 2024 draft.
